A PRISONER who was injured when he fell out of a bunk bed is suing the Prison Service, it was revealed yesterday.
Gerry Cooper, a prisoner at Bullingdon jail in Oxfordshire, launched a negligence claim after allegedly cutting his head in a night-time tumble from the top bunk.
In a letter to prisoners' magazine Inside Time, Cooper wrote: "Bunk beds are an accide
nt waiting to happen."
He suggested prisoners could not be compelled to sleep in the top bunk if they felt unsafe, and told fellow inmates to be "aware of the implications" in the present jail overcrowding crisis.
Cooper wrote: "In November 2005 I turned over in my sleep and fell from the top bunk of my bed sustaining a bad gash to the head.
"I am currently pursuing a claim for negligence.
"Since my fall, this prison has not upgraded its risk assessment of bunk beds, which I consider to be a breach of health and safety regulations."
He added: "The governor here denies any liability, however informs me that any inmate who does not feel safe in a bunk bed on the top bunk will not be compelled to go into one.
"If this is indeed Prison Service policy then I feel that all inmates need to be aware of the implications, as I understand that currently some 30,000 are in accommodation designed for one."
A Prison Service spokesman said its policy on bunk beds was not as suggested in Mr Cooper's letter.
"Prisoners who sleep in bunk beds have been advised for some time on how to use them safely and are encouraged to report any concerns to prison staff," he said.
"The Prison Service will try to meet the needs of prisoners who do not wish to sleep on the top bunks but this will not always be possible due to constraints imposed by population pressures and health and safety concerns, as rail guards could be used as ligature points by prisoners trying to commit suicide."
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Edward Garnier said: "The amount paid out to prisoners in compensation has doubled to £4m in just one year."
Earlier this year it emerged that compensation payments to prisoners doubled from £2.19m in 2004-05 to £4m in 2005-06, one inmate receiving £2.7m following a failed suicide attempt.
The figures were revealed in a Parliamentary written answer.
In May it was revealed that a group of 200 prisoners is suing the Home Office for a breach of human rights because they were made to stop taking drugs in jail.
Last year that dozens of prisoners were handed £100 each following a fire which was started deliberately at Highpoint prison in Suffolk, to make up for the "inconvenience" they suffered.
